Thieves steal oxygen tanks in Mexico as death toll from coronavirus soars

THEFTS of oxygen mounted as Mexico reported its highest daily death toll since the coronavirus pandemic began, with 1,584 deaths confirmed.

There was also a near-record one-day rise in new virus cases of 18,894.

The Mexican Social Security Institute reported that an armed man burst into a government hospital in northern Sonora state at about noon on Tuesday and stole seven oxygen tanks.

The institute said the man pointed a gun at a hospital employee, demanded to know where the oxygen was kept, and took four empty canisters and three full ones. Authorities in Navajoa are hunting the man and another suspect who drove off in a car carrying the tanks.

Also on Tuesday, police in the town of Tultepec, just north of Mexico City, chased down a small freight lorry carrying 44 oxygen tanks after the vehicle was reported stolen. Two suspects were detained.

With hospitals in Mexico City and other states overwhelmed by a wave of Covid cases, many families have turned to treating their relatives at home with supplementary oxygen, creating spot shortages of tanks and oxygen for refills.

But once patients recover, the agency said, many people keep the canisters in case someone else falls ill.

Mexico has suffered almost

1.67 million confirmed coronavirus infections and 143,000 test-confirmed deaths related to Covid. With the country’s extremely low testing rate, official estimates suggest the real death toll is closer to 195,000.

The country’s defence department, meanwhile, said four doses of Covid vaccine were stolen at a hospital in Cuernavaca, south of Mexico City, probably by a hospital employee or with the aid of an employee.

The army has been given responsibility for transporting and guarding vaccines in Mexico, but a private security firm was apparently in charge inside the hospital.